Holocaust Memorial | |
51°30′15.53″N0°9′32.03″W / 51.5043139°N 0.1588972°W | |
Location | Hyde Park London, SW1 |
---|---|
Designer | Mark Badger, Richard Seifert, Derek Lovejoy and partners |
Type | Memorial |
Material | Granite boulder |
Beginning date | 1983 |
Completion date | 1983 |
Opening date | 1983 |
Dedicated to | Victims of the Holocaust |
The Holocaust Memorial in Hyde Park, London, was the first public memorial in Great Britain dedicated to victims of the Holocaust. [1] [2] It lies to the east of the Serpentine Lake, [1] in The Dell, an open-air area within the park. Since its unveiling in 1983 remembrance services have taken place at the memorial every year. [3]
The memorial was built in 1983, funded by the Board of Deputies of British Jews under the impetus of then-President Greville Janner, a Labour Party MP. [2] [3] [4] It was designed by Mark Badger, Richard Seifert, Derek Lovejoy and partners. [1] It was unveiled on 28 June 1983, during a service led by then-Environment Secretary Patrick Jenkin, Baron Jenkin of Roding. Attended by a crowd of 500 spectators including Sir Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, Jenkin described the memorial as "a reminder of the past and a warning for the future." [4] The attending guests then sang hymns and "Adon Olam", a Sabbath hymn.
The then-shadow Environment Secretary Gerald Kaufman, whose grandmother was murdered by the Nazis in Poland, also stated that "the memorial was essential because the German responsibility was partly shared by other countries." [4]
The memorial consists of two boulders lying within a gravel bed, surrounded by a copse of silver birch trees. It is inscribed in both English and Hebrew with the words "For these I weep. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because of the destruction of my people" [1] which is a quotation from the Book of Lamentations. [4]
In April 2024, London police covered the memorial out of fear that pro-Palestinian activists might vandalize it. [5] Many viewed this as a victory for antisemites, and labeled the action as "shameful". [5]
Hyde Park is a 350-acre (140 ha), historic Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace to St James's Park. Hyde Park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.
The Serpentine is a 40-acre (16 ha) recreational lake in Hyde Park, London, England, created in 1730 at the behest of Queen Caroline. Although it is common to refer to the entire body of water as the Serpentine, the name refers in the strict sense only to the eastern half of the lake. Serpentine Bridge, which marks the boundary between Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens, also marks the Serpentine's western boundary; the long and narrow western half of the lake is known as the Long Water. The Serpentine takes its name from its snakelike, curving shape, although it only has one bend.
Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm, 1st Baronet, was an Austrian-born British medallist and sculptor, best known for the "Jubilee head" of Queen Victoria on coinage, and the statue of the Duke of Wellington at Hyde Park Corner. During his career Boehm maintained a large studio in London and produced a significant volume of public works and private commissions. A speciality of Boehm's was the portrait bust; there are many examples of these in the National Portrait Gallery. He was often commissioned by the Royal Family and members of the aristocracy to make sculptures for their parks and gardens. His works were many, and he exhibited 123 of them at the Royal Academy from 1862 to his death in 1890.
Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. Prior to this, he had served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland and as rabbi of the Fifth Avenue Synagogue in New York City. In addition to his official duties he was regarded as an authority in medical ethics from a Jewish standpoint. He was knighted in 1981 and became the first Chief Rabbi to enter the House of Lords in 1988 as Baron Jakobovits.
Sir Richard Westmacott was a British sculptor.
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Thomas Thornycroft was an English sculptor and engineer.
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The Bromley War Memorial in Bromley, Greater London, England commemorates the fallen of World War I and World War II. It was designed by British sculptor Sydney March, of the March family of artists.
The 7 July Memorial is a permanent memorial to the 52 victims of the 7 July 2005 London bombings. It is located on the east side of Hyde Park, between Lover's Walk and Park Lane, close to Curzon Gate and about 150 metres (490 ft) north of the monumental statue of Achilles.
A UK Holocaust Memorial and learning centre was first proposed in 2015 to preserve the testimony of British Holocaust survivors and concentration camp liberators and to honour Jewish and other victims of Nazi persecution, including Roma, homosexual, and disabled people.
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Media related to Holocaust Memorial, London at Wikimedia Commons